


You Remind Me of Someone I Used to Be

by JenniM777



Series: Klance AU Month [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-09
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-25 05:11:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17718701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniM777/pseuds/JenniM777
Summary: Prompt: Klance AU Month: day 8 - Garrison





	You Remind Me of Someone I Used to Be

**Author's Note:**

> Just some straight up softness because I have a weakness for Keith being a big softy!
> 
> I'm a few days behind because of work so if I don't catch up to everything today I'll definitely catch up by tomorrow!

Keith was just heading to lunch when his phone started vibrating. He glared at the message and put his phone away. Instead of heading to the cafeteria like he originally planned, he headed to the detention wing. He gave a sharp knock and sighed at Shiro’s voice on the other side of the door, “Enter.”

He closed the door behind him and eyed the young girl standing in front of Shiro’s desk. Her eyes were hard, she held her head in a defiant tilt, and her fists were clinched at her sides. She was laying into Shiro, “I don’t deserve to be a cargo pilot and you know it! My scores are better and the only reason I’m not fighter class is because everyone here is too scared that you’ll be playing favorites!”

Keith stood back with his arms crossed and watched. Just before she could catch another wind Shiro took a deep breath and bellowed, “That is enough Cadet! You have been told time and time again about addressing your superiors and your behavior will not be tolerated. You have authority issues, you do not manage your temper, and you have abused every chance you have been given. Starting next week you will no longer be cargo pilot, you are being moved to humanitarian relief efforts with Commander Kogane.”

Keith waited for the moment the cadet would stomp her feet in retaliation but it never came. Instead she gritted her teeth and glared at Shiro, “How long Commander Shirogane?”

Shiro moved from around his desk and looked down at the young girl, “Until your commanding officer feels you have earned your spot back as a cargo pilot. Until then all of your flying privileges have been revoked.”

Shiro stepped around the student and faced Keith, “She’s all yours commander. I’ll leave the office for your use. Take your time.”

Keith nodded and as Shiro left the office he leaned against the wall and considered the young girl in front of him. She was still facing Shiro’s desk, her back to Keith. Her fists were still balled up and he could see the tension across her shoulders. She still held her head high in spite of the tongue lashing Shiro had just given her and for that Keith was pretty impressed.

He stood up straight and in a much softer voice than one would have expected he finally spoke, “At ease cadet.”

Keith made his way around and leaned against Shiro’s desk and eyed the young girl in front of him. He noticed the way she bit at her bottom lip to keep it from trembling and the rapid blink of her eyes to keep the tears from falling and even though he had given her permission to relax she still held a rigid stance. Keith took a deep breath, “This is the third time this week Bailey. What’s going on?”

A tear finally fell from her eyes and Bailey fought back a sob, “I’m better than being just a cargo pilot. I can outfly everyone. The Garrison is just playing nice because if I get fighter pilot everyone will just accuse Uncle Shiro of playing favorites.”

Keith pulled the chair from behind Shiro’s desk and sat in it. He grabbed Bailey’s wrist and pulled her to stand in front of him. “You know that’s not true. We can pull up your flight scores right now and look at them if you want.”

This time Bailey did stomp her feet, “I know what my scores are! I should have better scores than Maria Rizavi and Jessica Griffin. They both crashed the simulators twice this week. I’ve never crashed.”

Keith wiped at the tears on Bailey’s cheeks, “You know it’s not just based on the simulators. It’s also test scores.”

Bailey pulled back, still too angry to allow comfort. “It’s still not fair. No one wants to be a stupid cargo pilot anyway!”

Keith flinched at her words but bit his tongue and tugged on her hand, “Come here Bailey. Come sit with me while I tell you a story.”

Bailey tried to pull out of Keith’s grip, “I’m too old for stories.”

Keith held on and jiggled Bailey’s hand in his, “just humor your dad for a few minutes.”

Keith couldn’t help the grin when Bailey rolled her eyes and relented. “Fine!”

Keith pulled Bailey into his lap and tucked her head under his chin. “You know you’re a lot like I was at fifteen. I was angry and cocky and I could outfly anyone in the Garrison and I let everyone know that I knew just how good I was.”

Bailey sniffed, “But you are good. You beat Uncle Shiro’s scores when you were only twelve years old and no one has ever been able to beat your scores yet.”

Keith hummed softly, “That’s true but there’s a better way than to just mouth off about it. It took me quite a long time to figure that out. I had a lot of anger issues and a problem with authority and I thought I was better off on my own. I was the best and I didn’t need anyone to hold me back.”

He felt Bailey stiffen in his arms and nudged her, “does that sound a bit familiar?”

When he didn’t get an answer he turned the chair around and opened up Shiro’s laptop. “Here let me show you something else.”

Keith typed in a few commands and a list came up. Bailey sat up and looked at the list, “This is when you were in the Garrison. Are these all of your scores?”

Keith scrolled down, “Not just mine.”

He waited to see how long it would take Bailey to find the name he wanted her to see. He was just about to make it a bit more obvious when she saw it. “Oh! Its cargo pilots too.”

She turned to face Keith, “But I thought Papa was a fighter pilot.”

“He was for about a year, but before that he started out as a cargo pilot.”

Bailey looked back at the laptop. Her face was set in a scowl and Keith had to bite back a laugh at just how much she reminded him of himself. “But Papa was….”

Keith waited and when Bailey didn’t elaborate Keith filled in the blanks himself, “He was what? A Paladin of Voltron, a defender of the universe? He was also the first Paladin in over ten thousand years to be picked by a lion. He was also one of three pilots to fly the fastest and most agile of all the lions. _And,_ he was one of only two Paladins to ever fly more than one lion.”

“Papa did all of that?”

Keith nodded, “Not bad for a cargo pilot right?”

Bailey leaned back against Keith’s chest. “Who was the other Paladin? You said there were two Paladins that flew two lions. Who was the other one?”

Keith grinned, “Can you guess?”

Bailey turned around, “You? You and Papa were the only ones who ever flew two lions?”

Keith pulled Bailey back into his arms and the pair sat in silence for several minutes. Keith pressed a kiss to Bailey’s temple, “You know, I never appreciated just how good I was. I was fortunate to start off as a fighter pilot but I never had to work for it so I took it all for granted. Your Papa on the other hand, worked very hard. He was told every day for a year that the only reason he made it to fighter pilot was because a hot head had some disciplinary issues and got kicked out. Even when we became paladins he never stopped working. It took me a long time to appreciate what I had. I don’t want you to take your talent for granted either. You are a good pilot, a great one in fact. I’ve seen you fly. But you never want to stop working for it no matter how good you think you are. I was fortunate to have people in my life willing to never give up on me. So I'm not giving up on you either. There's no shame in starting at a lower position. As long as you work hard and do your best your Papa and I will always be proud of you.”

Bailey shifted until she was leaning with her head against Keith’s chest, her ear pressed against his heart. “Who were the ones that never gave up on you?”

Keith rested his head on her chin and ran a hand through her hair, “One was your Uncle Shiro. He taught me a lot about what it was like to have a family after my dad died. He also taught me a very important phrase.”

Bailey smile, “Patience yields focus.”

“That’s the one.”

Bailey fiddled with the ring on Keith’s finger, “Who else?”

Keith smiled, “Your Papa. He always believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. There was a time when I struggled with being a good leader and I made a lot of horrible decisions. But he was always there to talk me down, to talk me through it and help me to turn things around and keep my disasters from harming the team. He never criticized my choices but he never hesitated to tell me how I could fix my mistakes. Your Papa was the best thing that ever happened to me. He wasn’t too bad for a cargo pilot.”

Bailey sighed, “I’m sorry. I should have never said that about being a cargo pilot.”

Keith hummed, “I’m not the one you need to apologize to.”

“I know. But I’m still sorry.”

Keith lifted Bailey from his lap and stood up. “While we’re on the subject of apologies, tonight when you get home you’re going to right an apology letter to your Uncle Shiro. And you’re grounded for three weeks for talking back to your superior officer and for having your flying privileges revoked.”

Bailey stuck out her bottom lip, “Daaaaad! No! Its already bad enough that Ezor and Zethrid are gonna give me a hard time for having to work with you, don't ground me for three weeks!”

Keith pushed in her bottom lip. “This is not up for discussion. Your punishment from Uncle Shiro is as a commanding officer to a cadet, your punishment from me is for my daughter getting in trouble at school. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

Keith nodded, “Good. Since you understand part of your punishment will be to hand over your phone.”

Bailey looked up but Keith just stood there and held out his hand. She relented and handed over her phone. “I’ll see you tonight. I love you.”

“I love you too dad.”

Keith watched as she headed for the door but stopped and hugged the tall figure that had snuck in at some point during their conversation. He couldn’t hear what was being said, but there were a few sniffs and a hand wiping away more tears. Another quick kiss and another I love you and she was out the door.

Keith sighed as his husband stood in front of him and wrapped him up in a hug. He melted into the hug. He couldn’t help the smile on his face when Lance whispered in his ear, “So who’s the cargo pilot that’s got you all flustered?”

Keith snorted, “I don’t think you know him. He’s tall dark and handsome, very flirty, all the ladies call him a lover boy.”

Lance gave an exaggerated gasp, “How dare you talk about someone so scandalous to our daughter!”

This time Keith couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “Will you ever forgive me for my traitorous thoughts?”

“I don’t know babe, you’re gonna have to beg hard to earn my forgiveness.” 

Keith leaned back into Lance’s arms and sighed, “I meant it. Everything I said about you, I wish I had told you that when we first switched lions after Shiro went missing.”

Lance tightened his hold on Keith, “You tell me every day how much I mean to you. You told me on our wedding day as well.”

“You deserve to hear it all the time.”

Lance spoke up after several minutes of silence, “What are you thinking about?”

“Was I too hard on Bailey? Was three weeks too much?”

Lance pressed a kiss to Keith’s forehead, “She’s a tough girl. She’s got us for parents. I’m sure she’ll be ok.”

Keith sighed, “I just don’t want her to be like me. I don’t want her to take anything for granted. I know how much of an asshole I was and I don’t want her to end up like I did.”

Lance pulled Keith back and pushed a lock of hair from his forehead, “Babe, if Bailey ends up anything at all like you then she’ll be one pretty terrific kid. You turned out pretty amazing yourself you know.”

Even after all these years of being with Lance he still knew how to make him blush. “You’re such a sap Mr. Kogane.”

Lance grinned, “That’s Commander Kogane to you babe!”

Keith rolled his eyes but leaned in for a soft kiss from his husband, “How could I forget.”  



End file.
